By Lucy Phillips
10 May 2010
The newly elected House of Commons has seen an increase in the number of privately educated MPs, leading to a profile that ‘does not reflect society at large’, according to research published today.
Educational charity the Sutton Trust found over a third (35%) of the MPs elected in last week’s general election attended fee-paying schools, compared with 32% in the last Parliament. This reverses the recent downward trend and compares to a national figure of just 7%.
Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, said: ‘These results show clearly that the educational profile of our representatives in the 2010 Parliament does not reflect society at large.’
The change is largely down to the higher number of Conservative MPs. Over half (54%) of Tory MPs attended fee paying schools, compared with 40% of Liberal Democrats and 15% of Labour MPs.
The study, which includes information on the educational background of 620 of the 650 new and re-elected MPs, also revealed 90% went to university – up from 72% in the 2005. Some 28% of the 2010 Parliament attended Oxford or Cambridge universities.
Lampl said the findings were symptomatic of wider social inequalities across the UK. ‘There are many factors that determine the make-up of Parliament, but one major obstacle to ensuring talented people from all backgrounds reach public office is the educational inequality that continues to hold back social mobility in this country,’ he said.
10 May 2010
The newly elected House of Commons has seen an increase in the number of privately educated MPs, leading to a profile that ‘does not reflect society at large’, according to research published today.
Educational charity the Sutton Trust found over a third (35%) of the MPs elected in last week’s general election attended fee-paying schools, compared with 32% in the last Parliament. This reverses the recent downward trend and compares to a national figure of just 7%.
Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, said: ‘These results show clearly that the educational profile of our representatives in the 2010 Parliament does not reflect society at large.’
The change is largely down to the higher number of Conservative MPs. Over half (54%) of Tory MPs attended fee paying schools, compared with 40% of Liberal Democrats and 15% of Labour MPs.
The study, which includes information on the educational background of 620 of the 650 new and re-elected MPs, also revealed 90% went to university – up from 72% in the 2005. Some 28% of the 2010 Parliament attended Oxford or Cambridge universities.
Lampl said the findings were symptomatic of wider social inequalities across the UK. ‘There are many factors that determine the make-up of Parliament, but one major obstacle to ensuring talented people from all backgrounds reach public office is the educational inequality that continues to hold back social mobility in this country,’ he said.
